1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of games, and to the particular field of pool-type games.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Pool-type games have always been extremely popular. Pool tables are often found in restaurants, bars and even businesses entirely devoted to pool and pool-type games. The present disclosure will refer to xe2x80x9cpoolxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpool-type gamesxe2x80x9d by which it is meant to include all types of such games, including, but not limited to, pool, billiards and the like. The terms xe2x80x9cpool-type gamesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpoolxe2x80x9d are meant to include all such games.
Tables in such establishments are nearly always crowded as evidence of the popularity of such pastimes. Tournaments including such pool-type games are also extremely popular both to participants and to spectators. Pool-type games are also extremely popular in homes and residences. It appears that the popularity of pool, even at current high levels, is increasing.
With the increased popularity of pool, the desire and need for accessories has concomitantly increased. These accessories generally include cues, racks, bridges and the like.
However, an overlooked area of the game of pool, especially in competitive situations, is the requirement for accurate, precise and repeatable location of an initial rack. In order to be entirely fair to all players, an initial rack should be precise and repeatable for all games.
Therefore, there is a need for a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating an initial rack for a pool game.
Many pool tables include a mark physically placed on the top surface of the playing table to identify the location of the placement of an initial rack. This mark generally coincides with the location of one of the balls of the rack. The ball is placed on top of this mark and the remainder of the rack is positioned with respect to the placed ball by using a frame, also known as a rack. The frame contains the playing balls and places them on the top surface of the playing table with respect to the placed ball, which has been placed on top of the mark on the top surface of the table. Once the balls have been stabilized, the frame is removed and the game is begun by placing a cue ball in a permitted area and driving the cue ball into the balls of the rack using a cue. The player making this initial break must do so with the cue ball located in the permitted area and without crossing a line, usually an imaginary line, on the playing surface during the break procedure.
It is often a matter of judgement as to whether a player has violated the imaginary line across which he or she cannot cross during a break. Still further, if, for some reason, the initial break must be repeated, the balls must be re-racked and re-broken. To be entirely fair, the imaginary line should be as definitive as possible and the racking and/or re-racking of the balls should be as precise, accurate and repeatable as possible.
While somewhat effective, the marks physically placed on the playing surface of the table and the use of imaginary lines have several drawbacks.
This means of identifying the initial spot requires placing a physical mark on the top surface of the table. In some situations, the physical mark may affect the movement of balls contacting the mark. Such movement can be extremely slight, but in some situations, such as highly competitive tournaments involving evenly matched players, such movement, even though extremely slight, could affect the outcome of a game.
Still further, a physical mark on the playing surface may affect the aesthetics of the playing surface. Also, it may give some players an advantage in lining up a shot.
Still further, a physical mark on the playing surface of a pool table may be a source of wear that differs from the wear of other areas of the playing surface. Thus, the overall playing surface may have to be replaced because the rack spot mark or the area surrounding the rack spot mark may wear out at a rate that is different from the wear of the remainder of the playing surface. This can be costly, not only from a material and a manpower standpoint, because it requires a table to be temporarily removed from service. Removing a table from service may be costly to an establishment that relies on pool tables to attract customers.
In addition to the above, having a physical spot on the playing surface of a pool table makes accuracy, precision and repeatability associated with the initial spot of a rack difficult. The physical mark is on the top surface of the table and the balls are placed on top of the mark. Thus, by definition, the physical mark will be hidden when in use. Accordingly, exact, precise and repeatable placement of the balls with respect to the spot mark will not be achievable because the mark is hidden when in use and a person placing the balls on the mark must guess exactly where the mark is on the surface of the table. While this drawback may not be significant in many situations, it may affect the outcome of a game involving closely matched opponents.
Therefore, there is a need for a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating a rack for a pool game that does not require the use of a physical mark placed on or incorporated into the top surface of the pool table.
Furthermore, as discussed above, using an imaginary line to divide the playing surface into a permitted area and a forbidden area can create problems associated with judging when a player has illegally moved into the forbidden zone. Again, while this may not be a significant drawback in many situations, it can be a problem in some cases, especially involving highly competitive games. Still further, there is no need to introduce a source of contention into an otherwise friendly game if it is not necessary.
Therefore, there is a need for a means for precisely, accurately, repeatably and clearly locating a dividing line on the surface of a pool table to divide the playing surface into a forbidden area and a permitted area for use during the game, such as during a break step.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating an initial rack for a pool game.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating a rack for a pool game that does not require the use of a physical mark placed on or incorporated into the top surface of the pool table.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for precisely, accurately, repeatably and clearly locating a dividing line on the surface of a pool table to divide the playing surface into a forbidden area and a permitted area for use during the game, such as during a break step.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating a rack for a pool game that does not interfere with the overall aesthetics of the table.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for precisely, accurately and repeatably locating a rack for a pool game that does not require a physical mark to be incorporated into the top surface of the playing table.
These, and other, objects are achieved by a pool rack placement system which includes a laser spot generating unit and a laser line generating unit. The spot generating unit generates a spot on the top surface of the table at which one of the balls is located during the initial break and will be visible on the ball during placement of the balls. The line generating unit generates a line across the width dimension of the table to divide the table into areas where the balls are placed for the initial rack and where a player may place the cue ball for the initial break.
The spot will be visible on the ball during the set up of the rack so placement of the rack will be accurate, precise and repeatable. Once the initial rack has been placed, the laser spot can be turned off, and there will be no physical mark on the top surface of the table. This will eliminate all of the drawbacks associated with a physical spot on the playing surface.
Once the initial break has been successfully made, the laser line can be turned off or will be turned off automatically by a timer circuit. During the initial break, the line will be clear and thus any judgement calls associated with a player crossing this line, sometimes known as the xe2x80x9cporch line,xe2x80x9d will be quite clear and easy. Again, once the laser line generator is de-activated, there will be no physical marks on the playing table and the drawbacks associated with such marks will be eliminated.
The system embodying the present invention includes timing circuits so such circuits can be used as desired to play the game.